Midwestern mayor Buttigieg wows progressive Dems in San Francisco.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major presidential candidate, took his campaign Thursday to San Francisco — a heartland of progressive gay politics — but said he is running “not to be a candidate for the LGBTQ community alone, or for any one group,’’ but to speak to all Americans.

“I’m proud of who I am, I am proud of my husband and our marriage,’’ said the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Ind., whose spouse, Chasten, sat nearby as he addressed reporters here prior to a sold-out speech before hundreds at the Commonwealth Club. “It might just be the most normal thing in my life.’’ . .

When asked how he will get past what many believe could be his greatest hurdle in running for the presidency — his status as a married gay man — Buttigieg told POLITICO, “I don’t know how it plays in San Francisco. But I can tell you I came out, during a re-election campaign, in Indiana, while Mike Pence was the governor. And I wound up winning re-election by 80 percent." . .

Asked about competing with Harris, Buttigieg said, “I don’t think I’m running against any individual, especially when there’s like 20 of us. I admire a lot of the people in this process, but each of us has a different message.’’

Buttigieg said making tough executive decisions as a mayor that directly affect lives every day is a strong argument for his candidacy.

"Cheeky as it sounds, as the youngest guy in the conversation, my experiences are relevant,’’ Buttigieg, 37, said.

“The basic idea is that the country is going through a tectonic change right now ... that calls for a very different leadership than what we have,’’ he told the audience. “We’d be better served if Washington started looking like our cities, instead of the other way around.”'

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/29/pete-buttigieg-san-francisco-1243203?